Steel Dynamics Inc. announced that its Board of Directors authorized the company to construct and operate a 650,000-metric-ton low-carbon, recycled aluminum flat-rolled mill, with two supporting satellite recycled-aluminum slab centers. The capital investment is estimated to be $2.2 billion for the three facilities, and commercial production is planned to begin in the first quarter 2025. The facility will utilize a significant amount of aluminum scrap in its production process supported by the company’s metals recycling platform, which Steel Dynamics says is the largest nonferrous metals recycler in North America.

The planned $1.9 billion aluminum flat-rolled mill will be located in the southeastern United States. The product offering will be supported by various value-added finishing lines, including CASH (continuous annealing solutions heat-treating) lines. Steel Dynamics will own over 94% of the rolling mill through a joint-venture arrangement with Unity Aluminum Inc., whose employees provide significant aluminum industry operating expertise to the project.

At full capacity, the aluminum rolling mill will require approximately 900,000 metric tons of annual aluminum slab supply. The rolling mill is expected to have the capacity to supply approximately 50% of its recycled-aluminum slab requirements on-site, with the remaining amount to be provided by the construction and operation of two additional satellite recycled aluminum slab centers: one to be located in the southwestern United States and the other in north-central Mexico. The Mexico facility is expected to begin operations in 2024 and the U.S. facility by the end of 2025.